Radio New Zealand
Auckland, March 29, 2018
State Highway 11 between Kawakawa and Paihia is still closed by the big slip that came down on Lemons Hill in mid-February.
The detour through Puketona is expected to add about half an hour to the journey, with holiday traffic, according to the Transport Agency.
Crews have been working for six weeks to clear the slip from the top.
Bad weather hampers
But the work had been constantly hampered by bad weather, the agency’s Northland System Manager Jacqui Hori-Hoult said.
“They are working as fast and as safely possible, given the complexity of the slip, the difficult access and the weather interruptions,” she said.
The Kawakawa to Paihia road is the main tourist route to the Bay of Islands, and Ms Hori-Hoult said the Transport Agency was conscious of the importance of the link.
Inherent risks
“We have considered opening the road for a time at the start and end of the day, but there’s a risk that loose material could fall on the road at any time,” Ms Hori-Hoult said.
The Transport Agency said last week it was hoping to use explosives to help the slip.
Ms Hori-Hoult said that plan was still going through a safety review and geotechnical analysis.
By contrast, it’s taken just days to fix the giant gap in State Highway One north of Kaitaia, created by last Friday’s torrential downpour.
Contractors replaced the blown culvert with one twice its size and finished the job of filling in the 20-metre wide, 4-metre deep hole yesterday.
The road to Cape Reinga re-opened yesterday afternoon after the repair job was blessed by a local kaumatu.
Indian Newslink has published the above Report and Picture under a Special Agreement with www.rnz.co.nz
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Photo Caption:
State Highway 11 between Kawakawa and Paihia is still closed by the big slip that came down on Lemons Hill in mid-February. NZTA Photo through RNZ.
